Naruto
Naruto Uzumaki (うずまき ナルト, Uzumaki Naruto?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga franchise Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto. Naruto is the main protagonist and titular character of the series. When creating Naruto, Kishimoto wished to keep the character "simple and stupid", while giving him many attributes of Son Goku, the main character from the Dragon Ball franchise. However, Kishimoto also added his dark past to make him unique. Naruto's initial design has been changed several times by Kishimoto, providing the character with different clothes to make him more appealing to Western audiences, in addition to being easier to draw and color. In the series, Naruto is a ninja affiliated with the fictional village of Konohagakure. The villagers ostracize Naruto because the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, is sealed within his body. As such, Naruto has ambitions of becoming the village's leader, the Hokage, in order to gain recognition amongst his peers. Nonetheless, Naruto maintains a cheerful and boisterous personality, allowing him to befriend several other Konoha ninja throughout the series, as well as ninja from other villages. He builds an especially close relationship with Team 7, the ninja team where he belongs, treating them as his family. Naruto appears in all of the series' films, as well as in other media related to the franchise, including all video games and original video animations. Several anime and manga publications have expressed acclaim and criticism of Naruto's character. Some view him as a stereotypical manga and anime protagonist comparable to those in many other shōnen manga, while others have praised his personality as well as his development in the series. Nevertheless, Naruto has remained highly popular with the Naruto fan-base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Naruto has also been released, including figurines and plush dolls. Naruto was born as the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze and the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Kushina Uzumaki. Before his birth, they had decided to name him after the main character in Jiraiya's first book, hoping their son would be as great a ninja as the character was, making Jiraiya Naruto's godfather. Prior to Naruto's birth, his parents knew that the seal that kept the Nine-Tails within Kushina would be in danger of breaking during childbirth, so they set up a plan to prevent that from ever happening. Kushina was taken a short distance outside of the village to give birth in secret, with Biwako Sarutobi and Taji as her midwives, a few ANBU as security, and with Minato keeping the seal in place. Immediately after Kushina gave birth, Madara Uchiha appeared and took Naruto hostage, demanding Minato to step away from Kushina or he would kill the newborn child. Madara then threw Naruto into the air, forcing Minato to catch him and transport him to a safer location, allowing Madara to escape with Kushina. By the time Minato could go after Kushina, Madara had already succeeded in removing the Nine-Tails from Kushina. Fortunately, Kushina (who survived the extraction thanks to her strong vitality) was saved by Minato and brought to Naruto, leaving the weakened mother to care for the sleeping Naruto while Minato went to deal with Madara. To save the village, Minato engaged Madara in combat and sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tails' Yin chakra within himself and seal the Yang chakra (as well as imprints of his and Kushina's soul) within Naruto, believing his son would someday have need of the demon's power to defeat Madara's threat once and for all.Suddenly orphaned, Naruto was left to grow up knowing nothing of his parents, receiving only his mother's last name since the Third Hokage felt that it was best that nobody knew that he was related to the Fourth Hokage. Before Minato died, he asked that the villagers of Konoha view Naruto as a hero who had helped defeat the Nine-Tails. However, only a few of the villagers honored his request, while most instead resented him for containing the monster that had destroyed their home. In light of this, the Third Hokage decreed that nobody should ever speak of the Nine-Tails sealed within Naruto, hoping that their children would not resent him as they did. The children, however, followed their parents' lead, despite not knowing why. Apart from the Third Hokage, Iruka Umino was the only who acted as a surrogate family to the young Naruto. Appearance As stated by Jiraiya, Naruto bears a striking resemblance to his father, possessing similar blue eyes and spiky blond hair but gets the actual shape of his eyes and a slightly rounded face from his mother. He has whisker marks on his face originally thought to be due to the Nine-Tails being sealed inside him, but was later seen to be born with them, when the Nine-Tails itself was yet to been sealed within him, and was instead at the time sealed in his mother. A trait regularly mentioned, that easily angered him, was his short stature for his age. During Part I, he was one of the shortest in his graduating class, second only to Hinata Hyūga. During Part II, he had a significant growth spurt that was noticeable to all, as first mentioned by Sakura Haruno, who stated he was a lot taller than her.Even Kiba Inuzuka stated that Naruto had become a "giant", and Temari didn't recognize the "shorty" upon seeing him for the first time in Part II. In Part I, Naruto's outfit consisted of a orange jacket with blue on the upper shoulders area, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, a red swirl on the back, and a big white collar as well as orange pants, blue sandals, and a blue forehead protector that was given to him by Iruka after he graduated from the Ninja Academy. In Part II, Naruto's outfit undergoes modification after being worn to shreds during his training with Jiraiya.9 The outfit retains the orange color as well as the white (without the tassel) and red swirls, but the jacket is much more form fitting and the upper shoulders area is now black in color. The swirls are the insignia of the Uzushiogakure. The forehead protector has also changed with Naruto moving the metal portion to a new longer black bandanna and he wears black sandals instead of blue. During his battle with Pain, Naruto sported a red coat with black flaming designs at the bottom, and a large summoning scroll on his back. The coat is similar to the one his father wore, aside from the color and the absence of the kanji on the back. The scroll and the coat have not been used or seen since then. Personality Naruto's room.Due to the prejudice and loneliness he suffered in his childhood, Naruto developed a craving for acknowledgment. In order to achieve this, Naruto would pull pranks all around the village and even go as far as strive for the title of Hokage. Even after graduating from the academy, Naruto was still determined to be recognized, though as Naruto made more and more connections with others, his reasons for wanting to become Hokage underwent a change, having less to do with the desire for recognition, and more to do with wanting the strength to protect his home and the people close to him. Because of Naruto's desire to become Hokage, he greatly admires those who have held it. As stated by Madara Uchiha, Naruto is a firm believer in the Will of Fire, as he was unwilling to betray a former comrade. Naruto's exuberant personality and fiery desire for self-improvement strongly impacts the lives of those around him. At the beginning of the series, Naruto befriended Konohamaru Sarutobi, the grandson of the Third Hokage, and it is through his brief tutelage that Konohamaru learned that the path to success is through plenty of hard work. Kakashi Hatake has described this as Naruto's "unique power," as he seems to change the world views of everyone he meets, and inspires courage for the future within them. With this power, Naruto was able to redeem Zabuza Momochi, make Neji Hyūga abandon his view of destiny and inescapable fate, inspire courage in Inari, Sakura Haruno, and Hinata Hyūga, persuade Tsunade to come out of seclusion, change Gaara from the dark demon into one of his closest friends, and even earn the trust of Nagato, the apparent leader of Akatsuki, who was one of the main antagonists of the series. Neji believes that only Naruto can save Sasuke Uchiha from darkness; however, Sasuke and A, the Fourth Raikage are to date the only people Naruto has failed to persuade. As mentioned above, Naruto is characterized as being hyperactive; he is typically exuberant, easily excitable, impulsive, and suffers from a short attention span. This is supported by Asuma Sarutobi in the Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc in the anime, describing Naruto as being the type who doesn't think before acting, similar to Sora. Asuma also identifies Naruto's personality type and fighting style, like Sora's, as being a 'power type' (types that are best suited to 'charging straight in') and are best effective in battle when sent in first, in the front to 'clear a path' through the enemy's defensive line, making a way in after them for the rest of the team. While raw power is one of his strengths, Naruto has begun to learn in recent chapters that it is something that he needs to temper with focus in order for it to become truly effective. According to Kakashi, Naruto is someone who learns through his body. Naruto is relatively naive, being slow to understand a jutsu's principles, and often requiring a dumbing-down of an already dumbed-down analogy in order to grasp what is being explained to him. This assumes he is able to keep his attention long enough, as he commonly seeks to change the subject in light of his ignorance, outwardly insisting that he already gets the concept. Though he retains this confidence in himself to great degrees, loudly proclaiming that he will master whatever technique he is learning in a fraction of the usual time, Naruto will not hesitate to ask for help if he needs it. As an extension of his naivety, Naruto has a number of childish traits. His pajamas always include a comical black nightcap with eyes and teeth, and he keeps his money in a chubby, green-frog wallet he affectionately calls "Gama-chan." He is also very brash and rarely pays heed to formality or social standings. He almost exclusively eats ramen, and is a frequent customer at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. He has only refused ramen on one occasion: when he was stricken by grief over Jiraiya's death.10 He has a natural affinity for perverted ideas and jutsu, something he tends to be reprimanded for by Sakura as well as Iruka, and which is only brought to new levels after meeting Jiraiya. He also smiles near-constantly, which during his childhood, was to mask the sadness of his lonely life. Those who are closest to him are able to recognize when his smile isn't genuine. Naruto also inherited his catch-phrase "Dattebayo!" (だってばよ！) from his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, who would say "(da)ttebane" (「(だ)ってばね」) when excited or frustrated. However, when the situation calls for it or when someone dear to him is in trouble, Naruto can be very serious, and will instantly try to come to their aid. This is most commonly seen in the series through his interactions with his team-mates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. With Sasuke, Naruto views him as a brother, and throughout Part II strives to bring him back to Konoha, despite his willing defection from the village. With Sakura, Naruto had a long-standing crush on her, and will do all in his power to make her happy, even if it is at the expense of his own happiness. Sai has indicated that this dedication has progressed to the point of love. Sai also notes that the strain of making Sakura happy and bringing Sasuke home are the source of Naruto's internal pain. After the loss of his mentor Jiraiya, talking with his own father, and talking to Jiraiya's killer, Nagato, Naruto came to understand the downside of revenge, and desired to save Sasuke from it even more. Naruto also tried to stop the Kumo-nin from exacting their revenge against Sasuke, for this would only create a cycle of hatred. It appeared that Naruto was becoming increasingly desperate in his quest to save Sasuke, as he was willing to get down on his knees before the Raikage and beg for Sasuke to be forgiven for his crimes and even take physical abuse over selling him out. Furthermore, after learning from Madara Uchiha the reason of Sasuke's hatred, Naruto decided and proclaimed to Sakura, who was trying to get him to leave his quest, that he truly understood Sasuke now and wanted to save him not just because of the promise he made to Sakura, but for also to himself. However, after realizing that the rest of his comrades were aiming to kill Sasuke, and that nobody in the village would ever accept him again, Naruto apparently suffered from hyperventilation due to the extreme conflict that he has been presented with. Upon finally reuniting with Sasuke, Naruto sympathizes with the criminal for his actions, and refused to back down or kill him, instead finding a third solution. Naruto came to the conclusion that the two of them were indeed destined to fight, as Madara predicted, and that when that happens, both Naruto and Sasuke would die. Naruto is fully prepared to shoulder Sasuke's burden, as a friend. In a way, Naruto is the sole person to not have given up hope on Sasuke. However, like the rest of Konoha, Naruto has finally given up in bringing back Sasuke as a citizen of the village, believing that words would no longer have any effect to allowing them to understand each other. Dark Naruto Dark Naruto.After Killer Bee refuses to train Naruto, Motoi guides Naruto and Yamato to the Falls of Truth, the place where Bee trained to control the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox. He instructs Naruto to sit in a platform and close his eyes. Soon after, Dark Naruto (闇ナルト, Yami Naruto) appears, berating Konoha's people for how quickly they changed their ideals of Naruto and have started sucking up to him which sickens him. He mentions that he is the manifestation of the darkness that exists in the heart of Naruto and that Nine-Tails has taken a particular liking to him. Dark Naruto exclaims that he is the real Naruto and that Naruto is an impostor. As a result, both start to fight but Naruto realizes they have the same techniques, skills, and tactics. As a result, their fight is drawn out and Naruto mentions that it will take a long time to settle it. Later Naruto awakens and tells what happened to Yamato and Motoi. Motoi says he must defeat the Dark Naruto in order to learn how to control the Nine-Tails. He appears once again after Naruto returns to the Falls of Truth. He is angered by him because he makes an image of his autograph, but he talks back to Naruto, saying how he suffered because of the villagers. However, Naruto says he must have faith in himself, what starts to weaken the Dark Naruto and makes him attack Naruto, asking what's the reason of his existence then. So Naruto says he is really him and thanks him for everything, hugging him when he tries to attack Naruto and saying it was all going to be alright. Letting go of his own anger at their past, Dark Naruto's eyes lighten and he gives into Naruto's warmth, disappearing into Naruto. Later, when Naruto entered his subconscious to learn how to control the Nine-Tails, it expressed surprise at how it can no longer sense the 'real' Naruto. Abilities At the start of the series, one of the only techniques Naruto could do without fail was the Transformation Technique, and his own original variant of the technique called the Sexy Technique; a creative but almost completely useless diversionary jutsu, used simply to shock his instructors.Naruto was also able to use simple E-rank abilities. While under the tutelage of Jiraiya, Naruto's abilities have continued to improve; his prowess in ninjutsu and taijutsu have grown greatly, and he had also been taught some limited skill at dispelling genjutsu. However, the most valuable assets that Naruto has gained in his training with Jiraiya are an increased range of battle smarts and more knowledge of the basics of a shinobi, which he lacked during Part I. This, along with the skills and abilities Naruto has gained over the course of Part II, makes him a much more complete ninja. Unfortunately, with the exception of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken and throwing himself with clones (which are both risky moves), he is mainly limited to short-range combat. During Part II, Naruto has regularly proven himself a match against the S-rank members of Akatsuki. It has been said by Kakashi at different points in time that Naruto has surpassed Jiraiya, Tsunade, his father, and even Kakashi himself. He was suggested to be Hokage in Tsunade's place by several villagers following Pain's invasion. Zetsu has noted that Naruto is probably stronger than Sasuke following Pain's invasion. While searching for the Uchiha brothers, Itachi granted Naruto a portion of his power, in case Sasuke ever chooses to revolt against Konohagakure. It is currently unknown what this power is yet. Jiraiya has also left Naruto with a "key" on Gerotora's stomach to help him complete an unknown technique which he, Naruto, and Minato have been working on but never finished. Naruto stated he was ready to complete it. Being a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, Naruto possesses incredible stamina and vitality, the former which is further augmented by the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him. Naruto's normal chakra level is considered extremely high, partially because of the Nine-Tails. Even without directly drawing upon it, a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra is always mixed with his own. Jiraiya once commented upon the fact that Naruto's body is much too small a vessel to properly contain the chakra of the Nine-Tails, and his body will instinctively reject the bulk of it due to the damage it would cause. Ebisu implied that Naruto's poor chakra control stems from this, as a portion of his chakra is used to reject the Nine-Tails' overwhelming chakra. What chakra that does not get suppressed by Naruto's body is assimilated by his chakra, making Naruto's usual chakra capacity unusually high. According to Kakashi, Naruto's regular chakra level is about four times of Kakashi's own. As such, he is naturally suited to jutsu that use a large amount of chakra, such as his signature jutsu, Shadow Clone Technique. While most ninja are only capable of creating a few clones safely, due to the technique's hazard of equally dividing the user's chakra among the clones, Naruto is able to create hundreds while maintaining a decent supply of chakra in each one. The Nine-Tails' chakra usually comes to Naruto during life-threatening or other stressful situations, given to him by the Nine-Tails itself to ensure its survival. Naruto eventually learns to contact the Nine-Tails and demand some of its chakra, which it seems to comply to out of amusement. The reason Naruto is able to access its chakra is because of the unique way in which it was sealed. Though the Nine-Tails remains trapped within Naruto, its chakra can leak out through the seal and mix with Naruto's. The Nine-Tails' massive supply of chakra becomes an invaluable weapon for Naruto, often turning the tide of a difficult battle in his favor. Though useful, expanding the magnitude of his other abilities, Naruto initially could handle too much of the Nine-Tails' power; as he draws upon additional amounts of the Nine-Tails' chakra, "tails" are produced, and from the fourth tail onwards he is reduced to base instinct, no longer being able to differentiate between friend and foe. Although he usually stops himself from getting too far, once the fourth tail is attained, he needs outside assistance to force the Nine-Tails' influence to recede. Naruto has at least some understanding on how the seal that keeps the Nine-Tails trapped inside him works, as he is able to manipulate it willingly after receiving its key. When Naruto separated the Nine-Tails' chakra from its will, and imprisoned the Nine-Tails itself into a new seal, he also stored the chakra into a seperate place within himself. Because of this, he can access the chakra directly without needing to interact with the Nine-Tails' itself, and gains a new form a chakra cloak that resembles the Sage of the Six Paths.12 Taijutsu and Physical Attributes Naruto has always been at least passable in taijutsu, ever since the Academy where he received a B in that class. Throughout Part I, his taijutsu slowly improved, where it was first showcased in his battle with Kiba Inuzuka in the Chūnin Exams preliminaries where he was able to hold his own and avoid multiple Dual Piercing Fangs without the aid of clones. A testament to his skill with taijutsu is shown when Naruto is fighting against Neji Hyūga's superior Gentle Fist technique in the finals where he got into striking distance using only hand-to-hand combat. After the timeskip, Naruto's taijutsu improved greatly under the tutelage of Jiraiya where he could hold his own in hand-to-hand against Chiyo, Kakashi Hatake, Yamato, and Sai, the latter three being ANBU-trained ninja. Throughout the series, Naruto's taijutsu continually improved, eventually learning the Frog Kata style from Fukasaku. On top of his taijutsu skills, Naruto has shown a high level of physical strength. During his Sage training in Part II, he was able to budge one of the huge statues without using the oil. After the training, he could shatter stone with his raw strength, as seen when he escaped from the Preta Path, which had turned to stone after absorbing too much of his sage chakra. Though initially compensating for his lack thereof with sheer numbers, Naruto has shown impressive speed after the timeskip. When he and Sasuke finally confronted each other after the Five Kage Summit Arc, he saved Sakura from her own poisoned kunai that Sasuke used on her in the span of a second. Naruto then met Sasuke's Chidori charge after creating a Rasengan, showing they were at or near the same level of speed. Category:Team 7 Category:Team Kakashi